11 March 2023 , 06:10
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The man convicted of killing Kristin Smart - a college student who vanished more than 25 years ago - has been jailed for 25 years to life.
Monterey County Superior Court Judge Jennifer O'Keefe rejected defence motions to throw out Paul Flores' first-degree murder conviction, acquit him and order a new trial.
Smart was 19 when she disappeared from California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo over Memorial Day weekend in 1996. Her remains have never been recovered but she was declared dead in 2002.
Prosecutors maintained that Flores, now 46, killed Smart during an attempted rape on May 25, 1996, in his dorm room at the university, where both were first-year students.
Kristin Smart disappeared from California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo over Memorial Day weekend in 1996 (Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)He was the last person seen with Smart as he walked her home from an off-campus party.
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Flores was arrested in 2021 along with his father, who was accused of helping to hide Smart's body. A jury found Flores guilty in October, while a separate jury acquitted Ruben Flores, 81, of being an accessory.
The trial was held in Monterey County, which is around 110 miles north of San Luis Obispo, over fears from Flores' defence team that he would not get a fair trial in his own county due to the notoriety of the case.
At the sentencing, Judge O'Keefe said: "You deserve to spend every day you have left behind bars." The Judge also added that Flores had been "a cancer to society" and must register as a sex offender for life.
Judge Jennifer O'Keefe described Flores as 'a cancer to society' at the sentencing hearing (Zuma Press/PA Images)Prosecutor Chris Peuvrelle described Flores as a "true psychopath" and insisted that he should not be released from prison, requesting for the maximum sentence.
Smart's father, siblings and other friends and relatives spoke at the hearing about the impact of her death on the family. Her brother, Matthew Smart, asked that Flores spend life in prison.
He said: "Paul chose to take a life, my sister Kristin's life, a beautiful life. And now he must pay."
Flores' defence lawyer Robert Sanger was adamant that his client did not carry out the Kristin Smart's killing and named Scott Peterson, who was later convicted of murdering his pregnant wife and was a student at the same college, as the murderer.
Kristin's dad, siblings and other friends and relatives spoke at the hearing about the impact of her death on the family (AP)Flores had long been considered a suspect in the killing. He had a black eye when investigators interviewed him. He told them he got it playing basketball with friends, who denied his account.
He later changed his story to say he bumped his head while working on his car, according to court records.
San Luis Obispo County District Attorney Dan Dow said in a statement after the hearing: "After nearly 27 years of unspeakable anguish, the Smart family has finally seen their daughter's killer sentenced.
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"Their strength and determination serve as an inspiration to us all."